**UPDATE**
Congratulations to the winners of the birthday drawing! Your names are posted below. Watch your inbox for an email from Living Proof later today so that we can get you your gift!
BONUS: The wonderful people at AMG Publishers have extended a 50% discount to any of you who would like to order a Key Word Study Bible! Click here to get more information, or to order your Bible. AMG Publishers
Winners:
#523 – Carole Germain #4348 – Karen Quinn
#2282 – Merissa G. #4399 – Anna Bunch
#2321 – Marilyn Riley #4430 – Nancy Beeey
#2756 – Merissa Ury #4813 – Myrlene Darnell
#2876 – Beth Longar #5648 – Nan Smith
#3937 – Dani Turner #5798 – Rachel C.
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A few nights ago I walked my buck wild new puppy around my neighborhood, watched the sun sink deep down into the horizon, and then settled in back at home. I flipped on my favorite season of the West Wing and I ate an entire bag of tortilla chips and ¾ a jar of my favorite salsa for dinner. What is it they say again? The apple does not fall far from the tree. Or something like that?
You see when we were growing up Mom would throw us kids in the back of Brontosaurus the station wagon and haul us halfway across the city to her old favorite Tex-Mex joint. She ordered a pint of salsa and a gigantic grease-stained brown paper bag of tortilla chips for take-out and she would eat all of this and only this for her dinner. Her own dinner. I can’t remember what we kids even ate, or if she fed us at all. I’m only kidding about that last part.
My mom was born at high noon in a fierce thunderstorm, my grandfather said. Her presence still shifts the atmosphere. A few weeks ago Mom left for a week in the hill country for a time of writing and solitude. The second she got back home, I loaded up my stuff and headed out to spend a night with she and my Dad. You see, for me, going to hang out with my parents isn’t really like going to hang out with the parents. Far from duty, it’s one of my favorite things to do. We caught up on all the life stuff that night. And then in the morning we drank our coffee in our pajamas and by 8:30 a.m. at the latest we had already covered topics such as the theology in Ephesians, the New Testament canon, the Holy Spirit’s role in the interpretation of Scripture, and the Festal Letter of Athanasius.
I have to say, this woman utterly dazzles me. She is the sweetest in the land. She is gracious and sanguine and loving and kind, no doubt, but she is serious and intense and focused and courageous. She has opinions and perspective and boldness and wisdom from the ground like no other. For all her awesomeness she is not self-righteous or squeamish, and God knows I have pushed her limits.
Mom is deeply committed to our family and I’ve always known that full well but I’ve also seen that she’s preoccupied with something a whole lot bigger than us. Probably the most important thing I have learned from her is that being caught up in Jesus and what He is doing in the world is everything. It is the ultimate priority and a family committed to His work in the world will get the privilege of making sacrifices together.
Over the past few years in my own journey I found myself in an unknown place, a place where a heart could break deeper and wider and in more directions than I could have imagined possible. Mom has walked alongside me on this road further than any human could be expected to walk with another. She would have had good reasons to just sit out a while and catch her breath. But she never left my side. The road has been bumpy but also tedious and repetitive. When the landscape didn’t seem to change for a long, long time, she kept plodding along with me, carrying my burdens and helping me shoulder the grief that felt too much to bear.
Mom is tender and she is strong and she is not afraid to look pain and grief and loss dead in the eye. Even more, she is daring enough to hope against hope. To see in others, even me, the beginnings of life and growth and health and wholeness where others might only see brokenness and death. She has shined the light of Jesus on me more times than I can count.
She can fry a chicken and whip up mashed potatoes and gravy with the best of the Southern cooks. Her pleasures are simple: the reading of books, sitting on the front porch, walking her dogs in the woods, eating dinner with my Dad, playing games on the floor with her grandkids, and drinking tea with Amanda and me. But make no mistake she is wicked smart and complex and multifaceted. She is so much more than even the best caricature of her could ever hope to be.
I love her.
Yes, I love her. If one photo could capture the light and color she brings to my world, this is it:
It is my joy and honor to be her daughter and also to work for her at Living Proof. This blog giveaway is just one of many ways I celebrate her beautiful life today. The first three gifts are from Living Proof and the last two gifts are personal gifts from me.
First and foremost, we are giving away eight Key Word Study Bibles. My mom gave me one of these Bibles many years ago. It was one of the first Bibles I ever really remember being excited about. It helped me become familiar with various Greek and Hebrew words before I ever took a Greek or Hebrew reading class. Every time I read it I was reminded that the Scriptures we hold in our hands in English are a translation. Remembering this often is a good thing and will take a person a long way in the study of the Bible, I think.
![IMG_2993[4]](https://blog.lproof.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_29934.jpg)
Second, we are giving away an assortment of several pounds of favorite Houston coffee beans. My mom is a serious coffee drinker, so this is just an obvious addition. This package will include but not be limited to one of my current favorites:
Third, we are giving away an arrangement of fresh flowers Mom loves. And, really, who wouldn’t like these?
Fourth, we are giving away a crossbody saddlebag. Mom and I both carry versions of this crossbody bag over and over again until one breaks and we have to buy another one.
Fifth and finally, we are giving away a small bottle of Flowerbomb. Mom wears lots of different perfumes, but she most often travels with this one.
So, if you’re interested in our giveaway please do pop on and say “Happy Birthday” and show Mom some love. Your comment becomes your entry into our random drawing. Comments will officially close 24 hours after the post is published, and please only one comment per person. The names of our winners will be posted at the top of this post at some point on Thursday.
I hope you all are happy and well.
And, Mom, I love you!
The best is yet to come,
Melissa
Happy Birthday, Miss Beth! I love hearing how much your daughters love and admire you. I pray to be that kind of mom to my two boys.
Hope you have a great day!
THE HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS❗️To someone who is totally amazing, with the best ‘pass on abilities’, for the love of Jesus, and enthusiasm…that showed me transparency is a good thing…..
Much love in Him and thru Him…
Sharon
Happy Birthday! I have treasured your Bible studies over the years and how they have enriched my life. I hope you have a wonderful day and feel all the love we have for you!
Happy birthday, Beth! Can I call you Beth?!?! Hehe! Thank you for the ways you allow God to use you to bless so many! My life is forever changed because of my newly discovered love for Bible study and Scripture memory. God is so good! Much love on your special day, Joy!
Happy Birthday. Beth Moore. You and God have taught me so very much. Thank you.
Happy birthday, Siesta Mama!
Three years ago, when I’d only ever done one of your Bible studies (Believing God), I felt the unmistakable tug of the Holy Spirit to find a way to take on Mercy Triumphs, which was newly published. My mom’s church down the street had it scheduled, I signed up, and some news from a loved one–this after a few very hard years for different reasons–knocked me flat with grief and shock. The very next Wednesday in the James video, you announced that you would actually not be speaking from James but from the Gospel of John. That was your video on joy and anguish dancing together. It might as well have been a life preserver; that’s how much it meant to me that day.
Since then, I have completed several other of your Bible studies with the same group and participated in some form or fashion with the simulcasts, but that study and especially that single message from that study have meant the world to me. Even if that were the only blessing God had given me through you, it would be reason to express my gratitude.
Happiest of happy birthdays! May the Lord send encouraging words in your own direction at just the most desperately needed time. (Not that I hope for desperate need… but I know it recurs as long as we are alive on this fallen planet.)
Grace and peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ,
christina
Happy birthday! You are such an encouragement to a girl likely born at high noon in a thunderstorm, with the cord wrapped around her neck six times. Quite a dramatic entrance. Not everyone gets me, but I feel like a cup of joe with you would leave me feeling understood 🙂 One day of the Paul devotional hit me especially. About mold-breakers. About having as many enemies as friends. Thank you for writing that. It can be a difficult and lonely road at moments, as you surely know. I love you, Beth Moore, as a sister in Christ, as a speaker of The Word, and I look forward to a cup of coffee on the other side 🙂
Happy Birthday Beth!!
Your daughter described you SO well and she is so lucky to have you as a mom! I feel like you have been with me through the trials I have been through and kept me believing and having faith in the only true One who will always be there for me. Thank you for all you do and may God bless you on your special day, as well as all of your loved ones!
Happy Birthday Beth! You are an amazing teacher that has us stirred up for gods word! So enjoy your Birthday with family and friends.
Happy Birthday Beth! I can not tell you how much I love you. I have taken an abundance of your Bible Studies and I always learn something new either about God or myself. I have met you in person at one of your conference and you can just see the love you have for Jesus and people in your face. You are a beautiful woman and I am so thankful that you let God use you the way He has to wake us women up and let us know that God loves us whether we love ourselves or not.
Happy Happy Birthday Beth!! The first time I heard you was, well I can’t remember the year. But several of us women gathered to hear this new lady speaker who was not only funny but you could see she had a passion like no other for the Lord. In this video you tell the story of when Jesus asked you to comb the hair of some old old man in a wheelchair getting off an airplane. Your honesty and transparency captured my attention and I have throughly enjoyed studying His word under your leadership ever since. As I look back now and think of your “hair issues”() it seems so funny that this story captured all of our attention. May your day be filled love, laughter and blessings
Dearest Beth.
I feel like we are family, although we have never met. No “stranger” could ever influence me more than you have, do and will continue. Thank you. Thank you for loving Jesus with a fierce passion that somehow reaches out and touches me and makes me want to love Him just as powerfully. Thank you for loving your man and showing me that it is okay to love mine, no matter what we have endured in the past. Thank you for sharing your beautiful girls with us. We laugh with them, we cry with them, we pray for them, because of you. Most of all, thank you for loving the “us” on the other side of the screen; out in the audience; sitting in the quiet clutching your bible study in our trembling, overwhelmed hands.
You are loved and prayed for.
Happy Birthday!!
Susan
Happy Birthday Beth!!!! Have another Christ filled day only more blessed.
Happy Birthday Beth. You have been a huge blessing to me. I have followed your teachings on Life Today for many years and have gained a better sense of God and a deeper relationship with Him.
Continue to be a blessing for all of us who need encouragement and the faithfulness to go on in this crazy world.
Kim
Happy Birthday Beth! Thank you for Believing God!
Happy birthday! It’s my BDAY too! “A Woman’s Heart” changed my life!!
Happy birthday, Mrs. Beth! Though I do not personally know you, the Lord has used you to shape, grow, and inspire my spiritual life immensely; I am grateful for you. May God bless you tremendously this year!
Much Love From Your Spiritual Daughter,
Bea
Dear Beth:
Happy birthday! I’ve always thought that someday while traveling from Dallas to Houston or Dallas to Luling, I would see you at Buc-cees and run over and give you a big hug. You would know without a doubt I was one of your sisters!
Frances
Beth, I am new in doing your studies, but am so loving it!! I am so thankful for your teaching talents and can hardly wait to start the next study. Happy Birthday to you and keep up helping all of us learn more. I want to be like a BIG sponge and soak it all up.
Happy birthday Mrs. Worrier of God. I am so glade that God chose You to be on this earth during my life time. Thank you for allowing God to use you. May God continually bless and use you all the days of your life. Happy birthday Beth!
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Beth! May the joy you so freely share bound back at you today and the rest of your year. You are more special to me and my family than you could ever imagine. I have tickets to see you in Boise in July and actually find myself wishing the summer would hurry along! I love your great big ole heart! ❤️
Dear Beth, hope you have had a happy birthday! I so enjoyed Living Proof Live in Tampa this past weekend. I am a fairly new Christian and look forward to digging into more of your studies. Thank you for your service to others.
Melissa, thank you for sharing your mom with all of us!
Tara
What an awesome tribute!!
Happy Happy Birthday, Beth!!
Looking forward to seeing you in Boise,Idaho in July!!
Valarie Petersen
Pocatello, Idaho
Happy Birthday Beth. I have learned so much from you through the years. Best wishes for your continued work, your health and your family.
Kathy
Melissa this is a beautiful tribute to your momma. I know many of us “out here” feel like we know and love your mom too but you see all sides of her and this helps us see how even more amazing she must be than we even know!
Happy Birthday, Beth! Thank you for taking a risk for all of us and helping us learn to love bible studies and in turn know Jesus better! Hope your day is glorious!
Wow, that was beautiful. Your mom is amazing. I’ve done so many of her bible studies. I feel like I know her but I’ve never met her. She is inspiring. Love following you also Melissa. You are also an inspiration and I love your photos. Happy Birthday Beth Moore.
Happy birthday mrs. Beth!!!
Beth,
Have a wonderful birthday in the Lord. You were born on my wedding anniversary. Today my husband and I celebrate 36 years of marriage. Keep on loving and writing for Jesus. Have enjoyed your Living Proof seminars and Bible studies.
Rachel
Beth,
You are a blessing to so many people, but the most important is the blessing you are to The Lord and your family!
I have taken bus loads of women to your conferences ALL over the south. These times are sketched in my memory. Many times you have confirmed what God had been telling me.
May this year be the best. As one grandmother to another, may this year bring you lots of grandchildren love!
Feleda
Beth, happy, happy birthday, precious lady! Thank you for loving all of us Siestas so very well. I’m facilitating “Breath” in my home this summer, and we began Sunday night with 25 ladies from 14 different churches/denominations. 🙂 As always when I facilitate your studies, I lead the group in prayer for you before beginning each session. (And yes, I dragged every chair from every room in the house to the family room! Ha!) We love you! And we surely love Him more because of you.
May you know His sweetness over your life in the coming year like never before.
Dear Beth,
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays! What a beautiful post from Melissa. Looking forward to more studies from you and with you.
With love,
Cindy Walker
Happy Birthday Beth! You have been a blessing to me over the years. God bless you today and always!
Happy Birthday Beth! Hope your day is full of blessings and happiness!
Happy birthday, Beth! Your writing has meant so very much to me. I wish you all the happiness in the world today.
Happy Birthday Beth!! You are a God send to me at times when I’m down. Have done so many of your Bible studies and they meet me right where I need them too. How bless to have a beautiful daughter who wrote this for you. You must be so proud and blessed to be her mom. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Hope you have a great day.
Blessings,
Karen
Happy Birthday, Beth! I feel as if we are neighbors after doing so many studies with you. Thank you for your faithfulness in teaching what God lays on your heart. He speaks to me through you.
Happy Birthday! May God bless you and continue using you. You are an example for the body of Christ, especially for women. Your passion for the Word of God is amazing. Many blessings on your birthday.
Happy birthday Beth! You have taught me that my love for scripture is not only normal, but something to be celebrated! Adore the work God has done through you. X x x
I feel like I know beth like a old friend because I have did so many of her Bible’s studies so I want wish her the happiest birthdays ever and keep the bibles studies coming we love them and her too
So thankful that you had the courage to answer God’s call on your life and that you have been so faithful in sharing His Word. Have a happy day celebrating the life that He gave you! Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday beautiful Beth! Love you even more after reading the love from your daughter!! Thank you for enriching so many lives with your ministry!!
Dear Beth, Happiest of birthdays to you! I am moved to tears by your daughter’s tribute and want to add my own as well. There is no one author who has helped to shape my faith walk as much as you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love for God’s word and the courage to teach it to others. You made the Old Testament approachable through my study of Daniel. I even named one of my children Daniel because of that study. My world was changed by the study of James and the gospel of faith and works. I could go on and on. How that one part of the Esther study on courage still rings in my memory and has given me courage so often. How the Children of the Day gave me such perspective in a season of transition. I don’t know you, but feel as though I do because of your bible studies and how God has used them to shape me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And happy birthday!!
Have a beautiful birthday Beth!! May His light continue to shine in you ❤️
Happy birthday, Beth. We are all so blessed by you. Thank you for what you do.
Beth is an incredible woman. I have admired her for several years and have completed several of her Bible studies. I pray God will bless her on her special day and always.
Happy Birthday, Beth. You are an inspiration and a blessing to many. I wish you a wonderful year ahead.
Happy Birthday Beth! I have done almost every Bible Study you have written and have a closer walk with Jesus as a result of time spent in the Word. Wishing you many more years of loving Jesus!
Dear Beth,
I hope you feel abundantly loved by your Christian sisters and your gracious Heavenly Father today. Thank you for letting Him use you so richly.
In eternity I hope we can meet for a chat and a good cup of coffee.
Blessings to you & your family,
Linda
Happy birthday Beth! Just saw you in Tampa. Needed the REnewal so much. Praying you have a wonderful year.
Happy birthday, Beth. You have blessed my heart and mind many, many times with your teachings. I thank God for your gift of teaching. God bless you on your birthday and every day!